Gaven approaches Bob Barley with a mournful look, "You
have my and the Light's condolences. We wish to return Bill's saddle and dagger
to you. He bravely protected Elsie and gravely injured the goblin's Lieutenant.
You should be very proud of his actions. We laid him to rest atop Lover's
Grove."

Barley nods at Gaven's words. "This saddle belonged to
Bill's older brother. He died too some years back. An illness." He sighs.
"I thank you for returning his effects. I haven't much to offer you, but
you should keep the dagger. You'll likely find more use for it than I."

Gaven replies: "The Light calls for us all at different times and for different reasons. Rest assured, Bill is where he should be."

Duran then goes to Bob Barley and, as is the custom in his
village of Ashwood, presents the grieving father with a broken arrow saying
"May your son's soul fly true to the world beyond."

At that, Bill's father, controlling his emotions with
difficulty, leaves the room as well.

When the door closes the you find yourselves alone with the
captain once more.

Oloc is more than happy with the agreement with the Captain,
and Duran nods in agreement to the Captain's offer.

Gaven also says to Belloc, "I agree to your terms,
Captain. We know the goblins are from Stagwood, where do you think we should
start?"

The captain again draws you near to the wall map. "Given
what we do know, the most likely place for them to be is here," he says
pointing an area up the Woodfield road, just north of the Coldstream. If they
intend to come down to raid the outlying areas around Fairbrook, that's where I
think they'd have to be."

OOC: The red hex is the area where the captain thinks the
goblins are massing.

"It's an area of mostly open ground, but there are some
woods in various locations, as well as small scrub-filled low spots that could hide
a host that size. You'll also find the ruins of Blackwell up on a hill in
that area, as you, no doubt, already know. But if our goblins are of the forest variety,
I suspect you'd be more likely to find them outdoors."

"You also won't be likely to find them on the road, I shouldn't
think. We have messengers and merchants that pass up and down the roads, who've
reported no contact with a large band. If you start on the road though, you will come in a few hours
to a branch east that will take you to an inn by the roadside. Enough locals
and travelers stop in there that it could be a good source of information. That
might be easier than trying to systematically scour the entire area."

The captain then hands you a smaller version of the map on
the wall. It has the main road north marked on it, but unfortunately not the
crossing that leads to the inn he mentioned."Take this with you," he says.

Belloc moves to an open window and clicks his tongue loudly
against his palate three times. In a moment, a black-feathered raven sweeps
into the room and lands on Belloc's desk.
The captain clicks his tongue a few times more, varying the rhythm, and
the bird tilts its head as if listening.

"This is Karnak," says the captain. You need do
nothing to take care of him. He will keep watch over the inn where you are
lodged and will follow you when you leave Fairbrook. As you travel he will fly
along with you. Once you have spotted the goblin host, simply click your tongue
three times as I just did to call him down to you. Then say to him clearly:
'Karnak, return.' He has been taught to understand that, and will immediately
fly back here and lead me and my contingent to the location where you gave the
command."

With that, the captain hands you the 50 gold he offered for
your information and the 100 gold retainer fee promised for accepting the job,
and you take your leave.

Gaven nods to Belloc as the group departs, "Light willing, we shall find the goblins quickly."

Once outside, Varros disposes of the trophies, though he keeps the bag.

You agree that the first course of action is to convert your
spoils into coin, and divide it up amongst yourselves. After spending a few
hours at the smithy, the general store, and even with Sadie at the Red Tankard (who
is thrilled to take the brandy off your hands for 40 gold per bottle), you find
yourselves with a total haul of 1024 gp, and 3 sp,* for a single morning's work.

*************************

OOC: Actions?

I will
specifically need to know if the bow carried by Varros and the spears carried
by Gaven and Stan get sold or not – I wasn't sure, hence the asterisk next to
the total item value above (and below).

Timewise we're into evening now, just
after dinner, but there are still a few hours before dark so let me know
anything you want to do or buy in town, and I'll post accordingly if/as
appropriate. Also, once you're ready for me to move on to the
"departure" post for the recon mission, let me know that too.

Also for the writing materials, let's say 1 gp for the lot
(parchment, quill, ink).

Finally here is how the spoils come out...

Coin: 163 gp, 3 sp

Items: 861 gp

(or 888 gp, if bow and 2 spears carried by Varros, Gaven and
Stan are sold)

(262 gp, 8 sp, 3 cp, if weapons carried by Varros, Gaven and
Stan are sold

Monster XP: 385 xp / 4 = 97 xp for each PC (you may
add this now to your sheets)

Lastly, remember that you may automatically convert any and all
gp you spend to xp (I'll trust you to simply put it on your character sheets as
you go), and that you may make "large expenditures" as per the house
rules at any time (either as you go, or else just save it up for one big
spending spree right before leveling up, your choice).

****************

Coin Detail:

13 gp, 3 sp (found on goblins)

50 gp (reward from the captain for information)

100 gp (retainer fee from the captain)

Item Detail (some items, like the club or the apples, have
no resale value; other items, such as quivers, are sold as a unit with the
arrows they carry):

Gaven accompanies Stan to the armory, "Hold on to that spear, I think it will come in handy. Here is coin to purchase some chainmail. It will likely serve you better."

Gaven will return to the temple before dining to speak with Abbot Cuthbert, "We return from Lover's Grove with both good and bad news Abbot. We rescued Elsie Miggins, but were too late to also save Bill Barley. To add to the bad news, hoblin-led bands of wood goblins plan on raiding the nearby farms. Please be sure to warn the citizens to be vigilant and careful."

Gaven then makes sure he and the Abbot are alone before asking about the mayor. "Captain Belloc mentioned that Mayor Adsul wanted any goblins brought directly to him for questioning because he had a 'special' method of gaining information. I find this highly questionable. What can you tell me of the mayor and his character and do you know anything of his methods?"

Once the discussion is over, Gaven gives the Abbot 150 gp. "Here is my tithe to the Light. Good evening, Abbot."

Gaven will spend some time in prayer and meditation before returning to the tavern for supper and sleep.

In the morning before leaving, Gaven will return to the temple for morning prayers and guidance for the upcoming mission.

OOC: Oops, I missed your comment somehow Dan before jumping down to answer Dienekes' question (which was largely the same). Short version: for color (and GP to XP conversion), you can purchase any book item for anywhere from 1x to 10x the book value when in a significant town like Fairbrook, representing "luxury" or "top quality workmanship" etc. In pragmatic terms this will have no effect on say, attack modifiers or anything. But it can give extra color to your character and help you make those gp to xp conversions (if you want to use it in conjunction with or instead of the "mass expenditure" house rule).

The one "concrete" custom option for arrows (i.e. one with a game effect) you do have is the purchase of silver-tipped arrows (useful against lycanthropes, undead and other nasty critters).

Varros looks to Duran and says, "Friend, I will accompany you to visit the fletcher, assuming you don't mind a stop for a few supplies. I could use your keen eye, as I need a fine longbow." Once on the street Varros nudges Duran and laughs, "After we complete our errands Duran, I believe you should buy the first round of that wonderful local ale they have at the tavern," Varros looks serious for a moment, "Hopefully, our next mission won't call for another archery contest."

OOC: Bard, does Varros, and any other charcter that qualifies get the experience bonus for prime attributes?

OOC: Varros will buy whatever longbow that Duran suggests as well as 20 of the best arrows availible as well as five silver arrows. Please let me know the price of these items if they are above those listed in the rules so I can deduct it. I will pay whatever extra for the finest to "buy" experience. Varros will give the bow and arrows he acquired at the farmhouse to Stan.

Varros will keep his gem and 25 gold on his person. The rest he will deposit in the local bank.

OOC: Yes, anyone who wants to keep 100 gp worth of his PC's share of the loot in the form of a gem can do so. I'm also going to rule that the banking institutions have "standard" gems (in 100 gp increments) that they use as equivalent to currency (both for their clients and themselves) for easy transport.

OOC: "Varros will buy whatever longbow that Duran suggests as well as 20 of the best arrows availible as well as five silver arrows. Please let me know the price of these items if they are above those listed in the rules so I can deduct it. I will pay whatever extra for the finest to "buy" experience."

This is a very interesting idea for increasing expenditures for XP, and one that I had not considered.

If you want to go this route (rather than, or in addition to, the existing hand-waving house rule) I think that's great.

Let's say that for any specific item, if you want "the best" you can pay up to 10x the book value of if you're in a "substantial" town like Fairbrook. You have the freedom to choose the exact amount, anywhere between 1x and 10x book value, as we'll assume there is an array of varying quality items.

For simplicity, and since these items will get a bit worn and battered during adventuring, we'll say that resale value will always be based just on the book value.

Also, the amount for the cloak is just fine (it would obviously be a luxury version).

So, I wanted to toss this out there. Now that you guys have finished a first "chapter" in the campaign, I wanted to ask what you think of the difficulty level.

Once you picked up the Elsie Miggins hook, I decided for the first "adventure" I wanted to err on the side of being too easy rather than too hard. Having gone 20 years without GMing, I didn't want to hit my first party with a TPK right out of the gate.

Also, I thought that a short easy adventure would be a good opportunity for you all to get a sense of how I handle game mechanics and how I handle judgment calls and such, in an environment where a misunderstanding between GM and players would not be likely to be fatal to the PCs.

Plus since I'm a fanatical believer in not fudging die rolls, I really impose on myself the idea that making sure challenges are reasonable has to take place before the first die is tossed, not after the dice start rolling.

All this being said, I do think that this first episode was a bit on the easy side (maybe more than it should have been even given my rationale), and consequently the rewards may have been a bit on the low end. Which leads me to think a slight increase in challenge level might be in order.

After all, I don't want to lose any of you to boredom!

So my question is, how do you guys feel about the challenge level? My original plan was to start on the easy side and gradually ramp things up until I hit what seems like the right balance (so that I wouldn't kill PCs left and right with my "experimenting"). But I am interested in knowing if you all think I should increment it up, and if so, what do you think you could handle? Challenges that are twice as hard as these were? Less than that (maybe 1.5 times harder)? More than that? No change at all?

ooc: I have no complaints - nothing wrong with starting easy! But I also like a constant risk of death in the game! As far as challenge rating goes, I am up for anything. If it appears to heavy, then we need to turn tail and run!

Regarding Oloc's actions, before I posted I wanted to ask a few questions (and apologies if you have covered this before and I missed it). Is there a wizard's guild or some other place where Oloc could conduct magical research? I think I will 'save up' a bit more before engaging, but was just curious if there was a guild or at least a local Mage where Oloc could go introduce himself.

And what are the fees for depositing coin at the banking establishment?

I think everything is great so far. I've liked that we have been able to roleplay out some encounters as well as use some strategy in the battles. I'd like to think some of our planning made things seem easy =). If we ran headlong into the cellar, we could have been TPK'd. How do you feel it was too easy?

Also, how much would a silvered dagger cost? Or perhaps for a cleric a (Maxwell's) silvered hammer?

@sonofotho: Re: "Is there a wizard's guild or some other place where Oloc could conduct magical research?"

There can be if you like -- I had envisioned this as more something your character does on his own, now that he has graduated from being just an apprentice. However, we can set it up for color/story purposes that you might work with some local mage of greater experience (a kind of "mentor" doing "post-grad tutorials" with you). Could lead to possible future adventure hooks too. Let me know which you prefer (the "post-grad mentor" option or the "solitary researcher" option). Either one works for me.

"And what are the fees for depositing coin at the banking establishment?"

I'm thinking none, really, as they get their profit by lending, investing, etc. making your money work for them while it's sitting there.

@ Professor P: "Also, how much would a silvered dagger cost? Or perhaps for a cleric a (Maxwell's) silvered hammer?"

I think the simplest way to go with this is to keep things at the same ratio as that of normal arrow cost to silver-tipped arrow cost (both of which do appear in the book).

Since that ratio comes to 1 silver-tipped arrow costs the same as 20 normal arrows, then we can say one silvered dagger costs as much as 20 normal ones (or 60 gp), and Maxwell's Silvered (War)hammer would cost 100 gp.

And regarding the training, I am absolutely fine with the solitary researcher avenue. I was just thinking of how/where to 'cash in' my gold for XP in the current town. I think I will wait until accumulating a bit more first though. But if you decide to introduce another mage into the game at some point, I'll definitely play off of that!

Duran gladly accepts Varros’ company while buying supplies. Duran is not use to the larger towns like Fairbrook having only grown up visiting villages as small or smaller then Ashwood. After visiting the various shops and helping Varros select a stout looking long bow, Duran heads to the Red Tankard with Varros and buys the first round of drinks. “A drink well earned by a new friend and brother in arms. I hope to learn more from you as we go about our business for the Captain,” he says to Varros. With that he orders some dinner and settles in for a relaxing evening.

OOC: If nothing of excitement happens the rest of the evening Duran will go to sleep and be up for breakfast and ready to leave in the morning. Also do we get our HP back overnight with rest or do we need to see a healer?

@Dan: "Also do we get our HP back overnight with rest or do we need to see a healer?"

I'm still working on how I want to handle this one, but I'll come up with something fair (I'm presently pondering one option that would work around the "full day's rest" principle, while simultaneously allowing you guys to start tomorrow at full xp and narratively make sense).

I think no one's down more than 1 hp at the moment, so the idea I'm pondering should work just fine...

"The only thing I need to know is how much to pay for the nights lodging plus the extra round of drinks."

For cost of lodging, it's the standard "cost of living rate" from the house rules of 1 gp/level per day (so 1 gp each) which covers your night's lodging and meals. Basically, any night you spend in a town, that's what it will cost. It makes book keeping simple (so I don't have to maintain a running list of lodging and meal and drink costs for each and every establishment across the West Kingdom), and you guys won't have to ask what the cost is every time you stop for the night in an inn (wherever you happen to be).

For buying round of drinks, let's say 1 gp for each round.

I base this on an estimated cost of 1 sp / drink, and an average of 10 people in the room, which seems like a good average to go with.

Since this is a very common information gathering technique, I'll add this to the house rules page.

I like working with flat fees based on averages like this since it keeps the book keeping simple, and you guys can simply say "I buy a round" and subtract from your character sheet straight away.

I realize that there won't always be 10 people in the room. Sometimes there will be 2 and sometimes there will be 20, but it all evens out in the end I think.

OOC: Varros will follow the same routine as Duran for the evening. He will suggest to the other party members that they meet half an hour before daylight to eat and plan for the scouting trip.

I have updated my character sheet to reflect all changes to inventory, experience and wealth.

Currently Varros has 296 exp, 27gp and a 100gp gem. Varros spent 125 gp on a well made longbow and purchased 20 steel and 5 silver arrows at the fletcher. In addition Varros purchased the minor items listed earlier.

Thanks for the feedback, all. Since everyone seems to be happy with the challenge level so far, I may just keep things as I have done (basically, like with everything else, encounters have been based on random die rolls determining strength as a % of party strength, ranging from the ridiculously easy to "run away!" Weighted toward the center (but with both extremes possible. I'll keep things as they are then for now though.

Thanks for getting back to us with the answers. Hope your week doesn't beat you down to much. Take your time with the game posts we would rather you be happy with it then feel the need to rush something up.

Hey guys, I apologize for the haphazard way I've been tackling these questions. I've been terribly unsystematic this go round, picking out whatever I happen to spot on the occasional break from work here and there the last couple days (scattered schedule, scattered brain).

However, the "hell" portion of my week is over, things are calming down now on my end, and I've tried to reread everything this afternoon and pick up anything I might have missed.

Also, just for clarity, I've compiled all of the actual rulings I've made here in this running series of comments. I'll list them here, and I will post them on the house rules/rulings page as well for easy future reference. Here they are:

Defining "main towns" vs. "smaller villages and hamlets": Many types of equipment, services, expenditures noted in the house rules/rulings are available in the "main towns" but not in "smaller villages and hamlets." The main towns in the vicinity of Fairbrook are: Fairbrook, Stag Hollow, Woodfield, Brewer's Mill, Ham's Fork.

Resale value of equipment: Unless otherwise noted by the GM, the resale value of all equipment appearing on the rule book lists will be 50% the book value. This applies to equipment looted and any old equipment of your own you simply intend to replace.

Rounds of drinks: 1 gp per round, flat fee, regardless of how many people are in the tavern or inn (this is based on an estimated average number of clients that should even out over time).

Superior Workmanship Weapons and Gear: For the purposes of narrative color and/or to add to gp-to-xp spending, PCs can purchase "luxury" or "superior workmanship" versions of any weapon or piece of gear. The "superior workmanship" is primarily aesthetic in nature, and has no advantage in terms of game mechanics when the equipment or gear is used. The player is free to choose exactly how much his character will spend on the item (i.e. workmanship level of the item), anywhere up to 10 times the standard book cost of the item. Resale value is always based on the standard book cost, regardless of the "workmanship value" paid by the PC. Such items are always available in main towns. As a rule, they are not available in smaller villages and hamlets.

Silvered Weapons: any weapon can be purchased in a "silvered" variety. The cost of any such weapon is 20 times the book value of a normal weapon. These are available in main towns. As a rule they are not available in smaller villages and hamlets.

Banks: Banking institutions do not charge for keeping PC money safe, or for converting one form of currency to another (including conversions of coins to gems in 100 gp, 200 gp, 300 gp, 400 gp and 500 gp sizes). Banks do not pay interest to the PCs. The banking institutions profit from the service of storing funds securely by investing and lending a portion of the money entrusted to them by all their clients. As a rule, PCs will have no trouble drawing on their accounts for expenses in any of the main towns. The one exception to this is for withdrawals involving more than one thousand gp, in which case there will be a delay in delivery of the sum. Banking services are generally not available in any of the smaller villages and hamlets.

Also as a final note: remember to add in any XP bonus to which you are entitled every time you spend and thus convert gp to xp. With lesser expenses, this can be tricky (e.g. buying a round of drinks for 1 gp).

It seems to me that there are two ways for you to track this. One is to use decimals (so if you get +5% to experience and buy a round of drinks for 1 gp, you get 1.05 xp for that). The other is to keep a list of "gp spent since last xp conversion." Then when you hit whatever you feel is a "critical mass" in that list (e.g. at the end of each "interadventure lull"), just convert it as a lump and "reset" your "gp spent since last xp conversion" value to "0". The choice is up to you, and I will let you use whichever method you find easier (or some other method, if you think of another option). The vital thing is that you simply be consistent and keep an accurate record.

I should be able to get the next real post up by tomorrow (Thursday) as I originally said.

OOC: Regarding silvered weapons, I thought it would actually be cooler (and in character) for Gaven to have his custom-made club silvered. A couple of questions, are silvered weapons useable on an everyday basis? Also, how much would that cost since a club costs nothing? Finally, how long would it take? Could he drop it off at the blacksmith this evening and have it back for the morning?

OOC: Good question. Let's treat it as a "1 gp" weapon (even though the book says zero). So a silvered club would cost 20 gp.

As for everyday use, let's say yes, no problem. Since we don't calculate wear and tear on normal melee weapons (and let's face it, if we were being realistic, we should), we won't do it for silvered weapons either.

I think we can say that it's reasonable for Gaven to drop it off with the blacksmith this evening and pick it up in the morning.